Kris Kobach (R) has filed paperwork to campaign for Kansas attorney general, marking his latest comeback attempt after losing bids for governor and U.S. Senate, the Kansas City Star reports.
Kobach Demands Cabinet Appointment, Access to Jet
New York Times: “Access to a government jet 24 hours a day. An office in the West Wing, plus guaranteed weekends off for family time. And an assurance of being made secretary of homeland security by November.”
“Those were among a list of 10 conditions that Kris Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state, has given to the White House if he is to become the administration’s ‘immigration czar,’ a job President Trump has been looking to create to coordinate immigration policy across government agencies.”
“Other conditions included having a staff of seven reporting to him, walk in privileges to the Oval Office, a security detail if deemed necessary and the title of assistant to the president.”
‘We Can’t Confirm Him’
“One of the GOP senators from Kris Kobach’s home state said Tuesday that the Senate would not be able to confirm the Kansas Republican if President Trump tapped him for a cabinet post,” the Kansas City Star reports.
“Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state, has been mentioned as a potential candidate for an array of immigration-related positions after President Trump pulled his nominee for the director of Immigration Customs Enforcement and announced the departure of his secretary of Homeland Security.”
Said Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS): “Don’t go there. We can’t confirm him.”
Kobach Suggests ‘Processing Towns’ for Migrants
Kris Kobach, who President Trump is considering appointing as his administration’s “immigration tsar,” suggested on Fox Business creating “camps” for asylum seekers in the United States.
Said Kobach: “Create processing towns that are confined, and so when someone comes in and falsely claims asylum, we don’t release them for six months onto the streets of the United States.”
He added: “We process them right there, in that camp, where they have the three square meals, they’re living in a nice mobile home, and then as soon as they’re done, as soon as the claim is rejected, they’re on the next plane back home.”
Fear of Kobach Increases Pressure on Pompeo to Run
“Fear that Kris Kobach will capture the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate is driving the effort to recruit Secretary of State Mike Pompeo into the race,” the Kansas City Star reports.
Said GOP steategist David Kensinger: “No one wants to relive the disaster that was the Kobach campaign.”
“Kensinger said attempts to entice Pompeo, who is fourth in line to the presidency as the nation’s top diplomat, to run to replace the retiring Roberts can absolutely be traced to concerns about a possible Senate run by Kobach, the party’s 2018 nominee for governor.”
First Read: “But what does it say about working in the Trump administration that Pompeo running for the Senate is even a possibility? Normally, it’s the other way around – a senator becomes a secretary of state.”
Kobach Can Oversee His Own Recount
Kansas City Star: “No law requires Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) to recuse himself from a recount in the governor’s race, but legal and political experts say that he should to maintain trust in the election.”
“Republican legislative leaders said Wednesday morning that a recount is almost certain and could possibly take weeks.”
GOP Worried Trump Will Endorse Kobach
Jonathan Swan: “Senior Republican officials have told me they’re holding their breath, hoping Trump won’t endorse hardliner Kris Kobach in Tuesday’s Kansas gubernatorial primary. Kobach is as far right as a Republican gets on immigration and voting rights, and Democrats view his potential victory as an opportunity to steal centrist voters.”
“A source close to Trump told me they thought the president had been convinced to hold off on supporting Kobach. But he added he couldn’t be confident, given that Trump is in Bedminster with a cell phone and plenty of Executive Time.”
Kobach Has White Nationalists on Campaign Staff
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s (R) gubernatorial campaign “employs three men identified as members of a white nationalist group,” the Topeka Capital-Journal reports.
“Two GOP consultants in early July independently named the three men, all in their early 20s, as members of American Heritage Initiative, a splinter of Identity Evropa, which the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as as a campus-based white supremacy group that builds community from shared racial identity.”
Even Kobach Won’t Give Voter Data He Asked For
“Multiple states plan to buck Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s request for personal information on voters on behalf of a presidential commission,” the Kansas City Star reports.
“Kobach said Friday that Kansas also won’t be sharing Social Security information with the commission, for which he serves as vice chairman, at this time.”
“Kobach sent letters to every state requesting names, addresses, voting history and other personal information, such as the last four digits of voters’ Social Security numbers, earlier this week.”
Kobach Will Run for Kansas Governor
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), who has championed some of the strictest voting laws in the nation, announced a campaign for governor, the Kansas City Star reports.
“Kobach, the architect of controversial election and immigration laws, advised President Donald Trump on immigration policy throughout the 2016 campaign and was appointed to serve as vice chairman of a new federal commission that will investigate the prevalence of voter fraud.”
Trump to Launch Commission on ‘Election Integrity’
President Trump “is expected to sign an executive order today establishing a commission to review alleged voter fraud and voter suppression in the American election system,” ABC News reports.
The officials say Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will be announced as Chair and Vice Chair of the “Presidential Commission on Election Integrity” in a press release today.
Judge Orders Kobach to Release Trump Documents
A federal judge has ordered Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach “to turn over a proposed changes to federal voting rights laws that he took to a meeting with President Trump,” the AP reports.
“After privately examining the documents, U.S. Magistrate James O’Hara ruled Monday that parts of documents from Kobach are ‘unquestionably relevant’ to a lawsuit challenging a state law requiring voters provide proof of their U.S. citizenship when registering.”
Kobach Backs Trump Claim of Millions Voting Illegally
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) asserted without evidence that millions of noncitizens voted in the presidential election moments after he certified the state’s election results, the Wichita Eagle reports.
Said Kobach: “I think the president-elect is absolutely correct when he says the number of illegal votes cast exceeds the popular vote margin between him and Hillary Clinton at this point.”
Official Wants Power to Prosecute Fraud That Doesn’t Exist
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), “the architect behind some of the nation’s strictest voter ID requirements, is asking lawmakers to give him the power to press voter fraud charges because he says prosecutors do not pursue cases he refers,” the Wichita Eagle reports.
“The state’s top federal prosecutor, however, says Kobach has not sent any cases his way. Some county prosecutors say cases that have been referred did not justify prosecution.”
